Big Horn County School District 1 honors employees and students

The monthly meeting of the Big Horn County School District  No. 1 Board of Trustees was held Thursday night in Cowley.

The excitement of the entire administration being present at the meeting was palpable. All summer the only administrators present were Superintendent Matthew Davidson and Business Manager Richard Parker, however all three principals along with other administrators were present last week.

Many accolades were given by the board including recognizing the state fair success of Ty Dewey and Brinley Dewey with Ty fifth and Brinley first. Kellen Winters running under 16 minutes and achieving the fastest time in cross country for the entire state was also recognized. Cowboys and cowgirls Jamie Taylor, Chloe Cauffman, Ava Wennberg and Teddy Ball all received rodeo recognition. 

Southeast High School in Yoder sent an email to the board following last week’s football game: “Your HS team played with integrity and respect against a much younger and smaller team. Each time that a SE player was knocked down, one or more of your football players physically picked them up and set them back on their feet,” said Lena Moeller.

The board went on to honor employees of the month. Elementary Principal Eric Honeyman honored Kymbre Moorehead, head custodian, for her dedication all summer getting the building ready for the school year. Superintendent Davidson noted that he looked from his window and saw Moorehead scaling the skylight. There was also much ado about a bat procurement the same day.

Rocky Mountain Middle/High school principal Betsy Sammons selected Skye Mader as employee of the month. Sammons noted that Mader wears many hats and has played a key role in launching our CAPS Program by building connections with local businesses and developing a curriculum to fit students. Mader also is integral in the marquee content as well as guiding yearbook students among her other duties in the business and computer classroom.

The district has received WDE accreditation for the 2026-27 school year. 

Taft Winters of Burlington gave a presentation about the FCCLA Nationals trip to Washington, D.C. He not only shared his experience but also asked the board to approve financial support for two advisors to chaperone the senior trip to Washington. Students can begin working concessions in sixth grade to help pay for their portion of the capstone trip. This was later approved by the board.

Ahead of next month’s regular meeting, the board of trustees discussed upcoming public meetings regarding the proposed alternative school calendar. The Cowley meeting will be held October 8 from 6 to 7 p.m., and the Burlington meeting will be held November 12 from 6 to 7 p.m., as well. Public comment will be limited to two minutes per speaker. The board will develop questions and topics to guide meaningful community feedback.

New hires for Big Horn County School District 1 were unanimously approved by the board. Josh Sponsel has been hired as the head high school track coach for Rocky. The new virtual academy elementary teacher Rachel Furrey was approved as well as Gabi Bolli for Success Coordinator Para/MS SPED Para, and Luke Culwell was approved as assistant FCCLA advisor for Burlington Schools. 

The next meeting will be held at 7 p.m. October 8 at the district office in Cowley, however, starting at 6 p.m. the public is invited to comment on the alternative calendar, purposing a four-day school week.